The Flora Graeca Story

Sibthorp, Bauer, and Hawkins in the Levant

H. Walter Lack and David J. Mabberley

The Flora Graeca Story

Sibthorp, Bauer, and Hawkins in the Levant

H. Walter Lack and David J. Mabberley

Description

This is the first scholarly treatise to tell the remarkable story behind the making of the Flora Graeca, a monumental collection of drawings and descriptions of plants in mainland Greece and the Balkan Peninsula. Originally described by Diskorides in the sixth century, the flora and fauna of the Balkan Peninsula were neglected until the gentlemen botanists-naturalists John Sibthorpe and John Hawkins, with the help of illustrator Ferdinand Bauer, travelled the region and produced a class of paintings superior to anything of their kind in existence then. These were to become one of the most valuable treasures of the University of Oxford. Based on the original diaries, letters, and specimen, this fine work is illustrated with prints from the original illustrations which are still housed at the Department of Plant Sciences at Oxford.

The Flora Graeca Story

Sibthorp, Bauer, and Hawkins in the Levant

H. Walter Lack and David J. Mabberley

Table of Contents

PREFACEACKNOWLEDGEMENTSLIST OF PLATESLIST OF FIGURESLIST OF MAPSPRELIMINARY NOTESDRAMATIS PERSONAEA SHORT LEVANTINE GLOSSARY1. Introduction2. Complexities of discovery3. Linnaean revolutions4. Sibthorp: the early years5. Bauer: the early years6. Hawkins: the early years7. Sibthorp: the first journey8. Hawkins: the first journey9. Sibthorp: the years between10. Bauer's work for Sibthorp and Hawkins11. Hawkins: the years between12. Hawkins: the second journey13. Sibthorp: the second journey14. Sibthorp: the final months15. The collections, drawings and notes16. Hawkins: the adventurer at home17. The publication of the results18. Epilogue19. Biographical summaryAPPENDICESBIBLIOGRAPHYINDEX

The Flora Graeca Story

Sibthorp, Bauer, and Hawkins in the Levant

H. Walter Lack and David J. Mabberley

Reviews and Awards

"Hosannas have already been sung to Lack's The Flora Graeca story by B. Mathew in Curtis's Bot Mag. 16:247-248, E. C. Nelson in Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 131:201-2-2, and T. Raus in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 121:608-609. Lack's Story is a much-needed and magnificent history of John Sibthorp (1758-96) and his ten-volume Flora Graeca (1806-40) and especially of his extensive exploratory journeys (1784-87, 1794-95) with John Hawkins (1761-1841) and Ferdinand Bauer (1760-1826). I can add little to the justified praises in these reviews ..."--Taxon